Richard Plunkett (c.1340-1393) was an eminent Irish judge and statesman of the fourteenth century, who held the offices of

Lord Chief Justice of Ireland The Court of King's Bench (or Court of Queen's Bench during the reign of a Queen) was one of the senior courts of common law in Ireland. It was a mirror of the Court of King's Bench in England. The Lord Chief Justice was the most senior judge ...

and

Lord Chancellor of Ireland The Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, commonly known as the Lord Chancellor of Ireland, was the highest ranking judicial office in Ireland until the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922. From 1721 until the end of 1800, it was also the hi ...

. His descendants held the titles

Baron Dunsany The title Baron of Dunsany or, more commonly, Lord Dunsany, is one of the oldest (1439 or 1461/2) dignities in the Peerage of Ireland, one of just a handful of 13th- to 15th-century titles still extant, having had 21 holders, of the Plunkett nam ...

Baron Killeen Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knight, ...

and

Earl of Fingall Earl of Fingall and Baron of Killeen were titles in the Peerage of Ireland, the latter one of the earliest surviving, while Baron Fingall was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The seat of the title-holders was, from the 1400s until 195 ...

Family background

He was born about 1340, the son of John Plunkett of Rathregan (or Rathgreen),

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

and Alicia d'Arcy (or Alicia de Trim). The Plunketts were a long-established

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the State rel ...

family of

the Pale The Pale ( Irish: ''An Pháil'') or the English Pale (' or ') was the part of Ireland directly under the control of the English government in the Late Middle Ages. It had been reduced by the late 15th century to an area along the east coast s ...

, who originally settled at Beaulieu in

County Louth County Louth ( ; ) is a coastal Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Louth is bordered by the counties of County Meath, Meath to the ...

about 1200: his mother Alicia is also described as being "of Beaulieu". Another branch of the family, descendants of Richard's brother, another John, later held the title

Baron Louth Baron Louth is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It has been created twice. History The title was created firstly c. 1458 for Sir Thomas Bathe, later Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer. Although he had at least one son, John Bathe of Ardee, the ...

Career

He was considered to be one of the best lawyers of his generation, and was appointed King's Serjeant in 1372.Ball F. Elrington ''The Judges in Ireland 1221-1921'' John Murray London 1926 He was already sufficiently well respected by 1364 to form part of the powerful delegation sent to England to describe the state of the Irish government and to complain to King

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

about the

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

and maladministration of certain officials of the Crown in Ireland; the complaints were directed in particular against Thomas de Burley, the

.Smith, Brendan. ''Crisis and Survival in Late Medieval Ireland: The English of Louth and their Neighbours 1333-1450''

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

2013 Richard sat on a

Royal Commission A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Malaysia, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia. In republics an equi ...

which was set up to examine and remedy the abuses complained of. He was also a noted Parliamentarian; he sat in the

Irish House of Commons The Irish House of Commons was the lower house of the Parliament of Ireland that existed from 1297 until the end of 1800. The upper house was the Irish House of Lords, House of Lords. The membership of the House of Commons was directly elected, ...

and took a leading part in the

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

Parliament of 1374. He was a member of the

Privy Council of Ireland His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal executi ...

and attended several meetings of the Great Council.Hart, A.R. ''A History of the King's Serjeants-at-law in Ireland'' Four Courts Press Dublin 2000 He became a judge of the Irish Court of Common Pleas in 1376. In 1381 he was appointed to try an action for

novel disseisin In English law, the assize of novel disseisin ("recent dispossession"; ) was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff had been disseised, or dispossessed. It was one of the so-called "petty (possessory) assizes" established by Henry II of ...

against Richard Dowdall and his wife Isabella. In July 1388 he was promoted to Chief Justice of the King's Bench, on the same terms enjoyed by

John Keppock John Keppock (died 1404) was an Irish judge of the late fourteenth century, who held the offices of Lord Chief Justice of Ireland, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer, and Deputy Lord Chancellor of Ireland. He became a politician of some importan ...

,Smyth, Constantine Joseph ''Chronicle of the Law Officers of Ireland'' London Butterworths 1839 p.79 and the following September he was made Lord Chancellor.Smyth He had already been acting as Chancellor for some months, due to the pressure of business on his predecessor, and was specially authorised to seal Court writs without affixing the

Great Seal of Ireland The Great Seal of Ireland was the Seal (emblem), seal used until 1922 by the Dublin Castle administration to authenticate important state documents in Ireland, in the same manner as the Great Seal of the Realm in England. The Great Seal of Irela ...

to them.Smyth Elrington Ball puts his death around 1389, but O'FlanaganO'Flanagan, J. Roderick. ''The Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of Ireland'' London 1870 states that he was still alive in 1393, when

Richard Northalis Richard Northalis (died 20 July 1397) was an English-born cleric and judge who spent much of his life in Ireland. He held the offices of Bishop of Ossory, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland. For the last decade of his life, he wa ...

succeeded him as Lord Chancellor.

Character

O'Flanagan calls him one of the most eminent Irishmen of his time, a lawyer of great distinction and equally distinguished for his Parliamentary career.

Descendants

Richard married Margaret, widow of Robert Burnell, of the leading Anglo-Irish

Burnell family The Burnell family were a Dublin family who were prominent in Irish public life and in the arts from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century. They acquired substantial estates in County Dublin, and married into the Anglo-Irish aristocracy. They ...

Balgriffin Balgriffin (, meaning "Griffin's town") is a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. It lies on the administrative boundary between Dublin City and Fingal in County Dublin. Balgriffin is also a civil parish in the ancient barony of Coolock. Location Balg ...

County Dublin County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...

. They had three children, Christopher, John, and Anne. Christopher was the father of the first

.''Burkes Complete Peerage''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plunkett, Richard Lord chancellors of Ireland Lawyers from County Meath 14th-century Irish judges Year of birth uncertain 1393 deaths Lords chief justice of Ireland Serjeants-at-law (Ireland)